


Fader

by orphan_account



Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: Invisibility, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-23
Updated: 2012-10-23
Packaged: 2017-11-16 21:36:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/544084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After complaining about his problems to Setzer, Edgar thinks he only annoys the gambler... until he receives an invisible visitor later that night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fader

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place just before the party encounters the floating continent.

Edgar hadn't intended to strike up a heart-to-heart with Setzer, but the platinum-haired gambler was alone when the king wandered up to the airship's deck.  Edgar had been feeling a little down all day but had no one to talk to: he didn't want to burden Sabin with the troubles he had taken upon himself, and Locke had been too preoccupied recently to pay much attention at all to Edgar.  Not that the king could blame him: Celes _was_ quite a distraction, and it was clear to anyone with eyes that Locke was falling for her.  Edgar wished he had someone else in whom to confide, but he didn't know the others as well and would have felt guilty for complaining to them.

But he hadn't really considered Setzer.

The gambler hadn't noticed Edgar; his back was to the king as he stood at his airship's controls.  Setzer always seemed so insouciant, and never more so than when he was flying.  _He doesn't have a care in the world,_ Edgar thought as he watched the gambler's long black coat flapping in the wind.  _Maybe he can at least give me some advice. . . ._

"Anything interesting down there?" Edgar asked as he walked forward on the deck, drawing even with Setzer.  The gambler glanced at him and gave him a friendly nod, then he turned back to the controls.

"Not especially-- everything interesting's up here."  He gestured at the floating continent with one slender hand.  "But since Terra wanted to rest before we went after it. . . ." Shrugging his shoulders, Setzer added, "Not that _I'm_ so eager to see that lying bastard of an emperor again, either."

"No kidding."  Edgar leaned against the side of the deck and glanced down at the world passing below him, then he looked back at Setzer.  As always, the gambler's face was pale, and his scars stood out clearly in the afternoon sunlight.  Still, the scars had never bothered Edgar; in fact, he found Setzer attractive. 

_It's his long legs and his hair. . . and those violet eyes,_ Edgar decided.  He felt himself flush a little as he admired those features.  Edgar was careful not to let on that he appreciated a handsome man as much as a beautiful woman, and he made himself look away again.

It was too late.  Out of the corner of his eye, Edgar saw Setzer turn to him as the gambler asked, "Something wrong?  You're staring at me like I stole your woman."

"Actually, I think Locke's stolen _yours_ ," Edgar bantered, glad Setzer hadn't caught on to his true thoughts.

"Oh, that was just a phase."  Setzer grinned and tossed his wavy hair back over his shoulder.  "I'm lucky I didn't marry Maria after all; life's much better when you're not tied down."

"I see. . . ."  Setzer's comment was a perfect segue to Edgar's own trouble.  "I envy you that way."

"You're _not_ telling me you have a steady girl somewhere," Setzer chuckled.  "I know as well as you do that most of them are too smart to have anything to do with you."  Edgar did know that; one of his chambermaids certainly said it often enough.  However, that wasn't at all what was concerning him.

"No, I don't have a steady girl."  Edgar made a face at the other man.  "I just meant, I envy you not being tied down in general."

"Well, like I always say. . . having no obligations leaves one free to gamble."  As he spoke, Setzer studied Edgar's face.  "But you're not talking about gambling, are you?"  
  
Edgar was impressed by the other man's perceptiveness.  "No, I'm not.  I've just been thinking. . . well, when this is all over, I'll go back to Figaro Castle and. . . to being king."

"And what's wrong with that?" Setzer prompted.  "You're even richer than I am-- in wealth _and_ in power."

"Yeah, but _you're_ not a king," countered Edgar.  " _My_ riches come with having to take care of a whole kingdom, all by myself.  Being king isn't all just getting what you want, you know."  He sighed and turned away, leaning against the side of the deck so he could look out at the sky.  "I hope Sabin will come back to the castle with me, but even if he does. . . I can't burden him with the duties he's never wanted.  I'll still have the same responsibilities as before, and I'll still be alone.  I've gotten spoiled flying around with you-- I mean, with all of you.  It's so nice to have real friends. . . and to let someone else call the shots for a change. . . ."

Setzer did not reply, and when Edgar turned back, he found that the gambler was focused on his ship's controls.  Edgar frowned, a little irritated that Setzer hardly seemed to be listening.  But then. . . his irritation faded into resignation instead.

_Why **should** he listen to me?  We've only known each other for a short time, and anyway, he hates being dragged down.  What would he want to hear about my problems for?_

The young king left the side of the deck, walking to the stairs that led below.  As he started down, he heard Setzer call after him.

"Edgar?"

Edgar ignored him.

\--

That night, Edgar lay awake in his small cabin on the airship.  The room was hardly larger than the bed where he turned restlessly; now it was lit only by bluish moonlight seeping in through the single porthole window.  Edgar turned his back on the window and looked towards the door instead.

His earlier worries were now keeping him from sleep; the king kept thinking of the day when the party's adventures would end, when the emperor and Kefka would be defeated and he would return home.  Some of the others might be worrying that the empire would _not_ be defeated, but Edgar didn't spare this outcome a second thought.  He had faith, perhaps naïve but faith all the same, in himself and his friends.  So instead of wondering if they would survive, Edgar lay wondering how he would cope when he had to return to his duties as king. . . alone.

As he stared at his door, Edgar wondered if he were drifting off after all; he could swear that it was slowly swinging open.  He hadn't bothered to lock it, but who would be coming to his room in the middle of the night?  Sabin, maybe. . . although Edgar's twin normally slept like a rock.

Soon Edgar realized that the door really _was_ opening. . . and that no one was there.  The king raised himself up on one elbow and watched as the door swung completely open. . . and then shut all by itself.

"H-hello?" Edgar stammered, squinting in the moonlight.  _Is this airship haunted?  Setzer never said so, but maybe someone lost a bet here and--_   His thoughts broke off in an audible squawk when he felt a hand on his shoulder-- a hand that he couldn't see.

_It **is** a ghost!_   Edgar fumbled mentally for a spell to defend himself, although he knew that invisible targets were impossible to hit.  _Wait. . . invisible. . . ._   The king relaxed, slumping back into bed.  Several of the others in the party knew invisibility spells: this wasn't a ghost but one of his friends playing a trick on him.

"Very funny," grumbled the young king.  "Thanks for the near heart attack!  Is that you, Sabin?  Or are you Locke?"

There was no answer-- of course-- but Edgar saw an indentation appear on the edge of his bed as his invisible visitor sat down.

"Yeah, just make yourself at home."  Edgar rolled his eyes.  "Really, the joke's over.  Let me get some sleep here!"  _Even though I wasn't sleeping at all. . . ._

The guest ignored him-- ignored him entirely in fact, for a moment later Edgar felt two invisible hands on his chest.  There was a little pressure as the visitor leaned over him then planted a kiss squarely on Edgar's mouth.

Edgar drew in his breath in surprise.  He felt himself grin; even though he didn't really feel like fooling around, the idea that someone would go to all this trouble to steal a kiss did wonders for his ego.

_And that narrows down who my mystery guest is, too. . . ._

"So," Edgar chuckled, "are you Celes?  Or Terra?"

Edgar's visitor popped him on the cheek-- not a hard slap by any means, but hard enough to tell him she was offended.

"Ow!  Okay, okay."  Edgar chuckled and rubbed his cheek.  "I won't ask.  But. . . whoever you are, I'm. . . really not in the mood, okay?"  Normally he would have been beside himself with excitement at having an invisible lover show up in his bed.  But now his conversation with Setzer still weighed on him, and he felt that some random encounter wouldn't make him feel any better.

At first there was no movement from the visitor, but then Edgar felt a hand against his cheek again: not whacking him, thankfully, but caressing him. . . comforting him.  Edgar's eyes widened as the hand withdrew and the person stood up, the bed rising as her weight lifted from it.  Whichever girl had come to visit him, she cared about him enough to stop teasing him.

"Wait!"  Edgar sat up, letting the blanket fall away from his bare chest.  He didn't know if the person stopped or not, but the door to his cabin remained closed, so he assumed she was still in the room.  "You. . . you don't have to go just yet.  I don't mind just having some company. . . ."

The mystery visitor returned to the bed and sat down once more on the edge beside Edgar.  Her hand returned to his cheek and rubbed it with one thumb, and Edgar leaned his head into the touch.

"Thanks," he mumbled.  "I guess. . . I'm just a little worried, and a little lonely.  I tried to talk to Setzer about it today, but I just bothered him.  I didn't want to talk to anyone else after that."

There was a pause, then Edgar felt a kiss planted on his forehead.  He smiled a little at the warm gesture and closed his eyes.

"Mmm. . . so my whining doesn't bother _you_ , hunh?"

His visitor kissed his forehead again, then she pecked him on the nose.  Edgar chuckled at that but stopped short when she kissed his mouth again.  This time, the kiss was close-mouthed and completely chaste, but it intrigued Edgar all the same.  He raised his head slightly, trying to kiss her back; despite Edgar's decision that he didn't want to fool around, her concern for him was appealing.  The visitor evaded his mouth at first but then returned to his mouth for another, warmer kiss.

The visitor's lips were gentle, but they weren't as soft as Edgar had expected.  He flicked out his tongue and brushed it over them, trying to guess to whom they belonged. They didn't seem full enough to be Terra's-- her mouth was small but had an undeniably cute bow shape to it-- yet he wasn't convinced he was kissing Celes, either.  For one, he had a feeling Celes would rather kiss Locke than him, and for another, her lips looked thin but smooth.  These were somewhere in between the two women's, yet they were rough, as if they had been bitten frequently.

Edgar had a horrible thought that they might belong to Relm-- the kid did seem far too knowledgeable for her age, after all-- but the weight pressing down the mattress beside him was that of an adult.  And that meant. . . .

_It's a. . . man?_   Edgar felt his face burn. . . and at the same time, his heartbeat sped with excitement.  His ego allowed him to expect that an invisible woman might want to sneak into his bedroom, but the thought that his secret lover was a man was a thousand times more thrilling-- and it changed Edgar's mind about fooling around entirely.

_I've always wanted to know what this would be like. . . ._   Edgar kissed the visitor again, but discovering his identity by tongue was impossible.  Still, he certainly enjoyed trying; his guest's kisses were perfect, a little teasing as he pushed his tongue in Edgar's mouth then withdrew it before Edgar could react.

"Mmn. . . ."  Edgar darted his hand upward to the back of his visitor's neck and held his invisible head in place so that Edgar could kiss him more thoroughly.  Even as he did so, he tried to place the texture of his guest's hair.  It wasn't cut short, so that ruled out Locke, Strago (thank goodness),  and of course Sabin.  ( ** _That_** _would have been awkward,_ Edgar thought.)  So either Cyan or Gau had let his hair down. . . or. . . .

_Or it's Setzer._ Edgar's cheeks flared anew at that thought, and he clenched his fingers in the visitor's hair.  The thought that he could be kissing the gambler caused a spike of excitement to course through Edgar's body. . . as did the thought that Setzer actually did care about him, cared enough to come cheer him up-- albeit in a sneaky, Setzer-y way.

_But I have to be sure. . . ._   As the two kissed, deeper and harder, Edgar trailed his fingers through the length of his visitor's hair.  The strands were long and silky-- not Gau then, which was a relief to Edgar.  And there was an easy way to check for Cyan. . . .  Edgar pulled his mouth from the visitor's long enough to brush his cheek against the other man's.  He felt a little stubble, but there was no trace of a mustache.

Edgar felt his chest tighten with excitement.  He wasn't sure just why he was so glad to have Setzer in his bed, but that was something he could analyze later.  Instead, he turned his attention to kissing the gambler again, driving his tongue into Setzer's mouth.  He heard a faint moan from his secret partner-- too faint to clearly identify the voice-- then the other man's arms went around Edgar's back and pulled him close.

Edgar pressed close to Setzer's chest; he could feel a lightweight but fine linen shirt against his bare skin.  The king's right hand returned to his lover's hair, but he drew his other hand up and down the other man's back.  In the dim moonlight, Edgar could see his own arms seemingly around nothing. . . but the body he held in them felt very real.

_I wish I could see him. . . but then. . . it wouldn't be so thrilling that way. . . ._   Instead, Edgar decided to "see" with his hands.  He moved his right hand from Setzer's hair and instead ran it up his chest, between their bodies.  The fabric of his lover's shirt passed beneath his fingers until Edgar felt buttons; he fumbled with one hand to undo them.

He heard Setzer exhale a breath of repressed laughter through his nose, then the other man pulled away from Edgar.  The king felt a finger tap his own nose.

"Oh, come on," Edgar growled playfully, reaching out to try to find his partner's shirt again.  "I changed my mind, okay?  I _am_ in the mood. . . whoever you are," he added.  It was a little more exciting to let Setzer keep thinking that Edgar didn't know who he was.  ( _If it really is he. . . ._ Edgar thought.  _It has to be, but. . . there's no way to know for sure. . . ._ )

"Hmm."  The noise was short, and it didn't reveal enough about the speaker's voice to identify him.  Still, its meaning was clear: "Maybe _I'm_ not in the mood anymore."

"Don't be a tease!"  Edgar tossed his blanket off, in case a look at his body-- clad only in short pants for sleeping-- would prove irresistible to his visitor.  The young king lay back on his bed and looked up in the general direction of his invisible lover.  At first Edgar thought that maybe he had overestimated his own attractiveness, but then he felt a hand come to rest on his breastbone.  Edgar's breath caught as the hand began to trail up and down his torso.

Edgar reached up and touched Setzer's hand then moved his own fingers up the other man's arm.  That arm was now bare; Setzer must have taken his shirt off after pulling away.  Edgar wondered briefly if the shirt had stayed invisible or if he just hadn't noticed it appearing out of thin air, but he soon forgot all about it. Instead, his attention focused solely on his mysterious lover as a second hand joined the first and both went to work massaging Edgar's chest.

"Mmm," Edgar moaned.  His eyes fell half closed as he gazed up at the empty air before him.  The hands pressed into his pectorals and moved in slow circles; their movements were gentle, but the skin on the invisible fingers and palms was rough, sometimes even catching on the sparse hair on Edgar's chest.

_Setzer's hands would be like that. . . rough from piloting the ship. . . and handling all those cards and poker chips!_   Edgar smiled at that then bit his lip to keep another moan from escaping as the invisible fingers pinched him lightly.

Edgar felt the mattress shift beneath him, then to his surprise, his invisible lover straddled his hips.  The silky, loose fabric of pajama pants brushed the king's thighs as his visitor's body lowered to rest on top of Edgar's.  The king felt the cool skin of Setzer's chest against him, and the toes of one of the gambler's feet trailed down Edgar's leg.  The foot came to rest below Edgar's own, meaning that the attached leg was rather long. . . and Setzer's legs were long indeed as Edgar had already noted.

Then the rough lips were on Edgar's again, and Setzer's tongue was soon in the king's mouth.  Edgar put his arms around the gambler's back-- a narrow back with smooth skin and prominent vertebrae-- and held his guest close as he returned the kisses.  He felt one of Setzer's hands fumbling in his hair, then pulling Edgar's hair tie loose.  After tossing the tie aside, the gambler combed out Edgar's long hair with his fingers, smoothing out the tangles into a fan on the pillow.

Setzer's mouth moved from Edgar's to caress the king's cheek, then shifted to his ear, his hair, his neck.  Edgar tilted his head back in bliss as the gambler kissed his neck and throat, moving down to nip at his clavicle.  Then Edgar's visitor began kissing his way down the young king's chest, towards his stomach, and Edgar squirmed a little at the ticklish feeling.

"Ohh," Edgar breathed as the persistent mouth reached his abdomen.  He felt the fingers of one of Setzer's hands hook over the waistband of his pants, then the other unfastened the buttons down their front.  A moment later, Edgar heard and felt his lover shift on the bed.  Setzer's body broke contact with Edgar's, and the king realized that the other man had gotten off the bed entirely.  Edgar started to sit up. . . until he saw a pair of black silk pants materialize on the floor.

_So the clothes **don't** stay invisible.  He must have dropped his shirt off the other side of the bed, _ Edgar thought-- but he was once more distracted when the mattress dipped again under Setzer's weight. . . .

\--

Some time later, they ended up in roughly the same position: Edgar flat on his back with Setzer straddling him.  The thought occurred to Edgar that Setzer might leave now, that maybe a single, rather crazy encounter was all he meant to accomplish.

_I don't **want** him to leave._   The king surprised himself at how intense the thought was, and he reached up quickly to find Setzer again with his hands.  They closed over the other man's wrists.

"Don't go yet," Edgar whispered.  He couldn't even look in the general area where he knew Setzer's face to be; it was that embarrassing to admit that he needed anyone's company, much less another man's, much less Setzer's.  There was no response at first, then the gambler pulled free of Edgar's grip. . . only to lie down beside the king a moment later.  Edgar turned on his side and put his arms about his lover.  He felt long arms surround him in return, and a hand moved up to stroke Edgar's hair in lazy motions.

Edgar wanted to ask a dozen questions, but he knew better.  Why Setzer had decided to come to Edgar's cabin and make love to him would have to remain a mystery.  Edgar did understand the invisibility though; maybe even now Setzer thought he had remained anonymous.

_He doesn't want anyone else to find out about this. . . and neither do I.  But all the same, he knew I needed him, when I didn't even know it myself._   Edgar leaned his head forward, found Setzer's lips, and kissed them.  _I wonder if he feels the same way. . . .  He acts so carefree, like nothing bothers him at all.  But maybe he hides it well, too._

Setzer returned Edgar's kisses, holding the king against him.  Edgar felt himself growing drowsy, but something occurred to him, a way to be certain that it was Setzer he held.  The king brought his hand up to his lover's face, touching his right cheek then drawing the fingertips upward, towards his forehead.

But before Edgar could reach it, an invisible hand caught his and pushed it away.  Edgar felt a stab of sadness, although he wasn't quite sure why.  The action probably meant that it _was_ Setzer-- he was the only one with anything out of the ordinary on his forehead, after all-- but it also meant that he didn't want Edgar to know for sure.

_Or maybe he just doesn't trust me. . . like he thinks I wouldn't want him if I could see his face._  It was the opposite of the truth; Edgar longed to see Setzer's delicate features, his deep violet eyes, his prominent nose, and especially his scars. . . because they were what made him Setzer.

_I want to be with him. Not just because he's beautiful, and a wonderful lover. . . but because he cared that I was unhappy.  And, well, because he's Setzer._   Edgar's thoughts tumbled over one another, ending in one realization that shook the king to his core.  _I could fall in love with him. . . because he's Setzer._

Edgar sighed and leaned his cheek against his pillow, letting his hand fall to the mattress between them.  _Bane to me if I **do** fall for him. . . I'll spend the rest of my life just as lonely as before, because he'll never settle down. . . especially not with me, tied to the castle._

But then he felt Setzer's lips touch his forehead, and the gambler's arms tightened around him.  Edgar tilted his head back, searching for his lover's mouth with his own; when he found it, he kissed Setzer deeply, savoring the moments they did have together.

\--

When Edgar awoke the next morning, he was alone of course.  The black silken pants were gone, and he could find no sign of Setzer's shirt either.  The king might have even thought it all a lovely dream-- except for the fact that his own pants were halfway across the room.

Half an hour later, Edgar was clean, fully dressed,  and as pulled together as ever. . . on the outside anyway.  Inside, he was both thrilled and shaken.  Edgar made his way to the ship's small galley for some breakfast, and he nearly lost it when he found Setzer there.  The gambler was swathed in his voluminous coat and drinking a tall glass of some sort of juice; when he saw Edgar come in, he gave a mumbled "good morning" over the rim of his glass.

Physical evidence aside, the whole night seemed impossible as soon as Edgar saw Setzer.  The gambler looked so elegant and spoke so casually, Edgar could hardly imagine that it might have really happened.

"Morning," Edgar murmured as he brushed past Setzer to find some milk in the icebox.  His nerves rang as his doubts grew; by the time he had buttered a slice of bread and started munching it, Edgar was close to believing it _had_ all been a dream.  
  
"How'd you sleep last night?" the king ventured.  Setzer drained his glass and cast Edgar a strange look.

"Uh, fine.  Why?  That's a weird thing to ask."

Edgar's cheeks flared with heat.  _It **was** a dream; it had to be.  He's acting like I'm crazy. . . and maybe I really am._

"Just making conversation," Edgar muttered, trying to hide his embarrassment.  He grabbed his breakfast and turned to the door.  _That's it, I'll never be able to speak to him again without feeling like an idiot!_

"Hey."  Setzer's voice stopped him, and Edgar half-turned back.  The gambler was leaning against the galley's counter, the expression on his scarred face unreadable.

"What?" prompted Edgar when Setzer didn't go on.  The platinum-haired man's violet eyes flicked up to meet Edgar's gaze.

"How did _you_ sleep?  While we're making conversation."

Bemused, Edgar answered cautiously.  "Oh, I slept fine.  Eventually."  His eyes moved over Setzer's body, but it was hidden in the long, black coat. . . impossible to tell if it matched what Edgar had felt against him in the night.

"Eventually?"

"Yeah, I. . . was up kinda late."  When Edgar looked back at Setzer's face, he found the gambler was smiling slightly.

"Oh really?  What a coincidence. . . I stayed up rather late myself."

Edgar's heart fluttered, and he matched Setzer's smile.  "Yeah?  Well, don't wear yourself out.  You need to be alert to fly this crazy ship of yours."  
  
"Oh, don't worry about me."  Setzer dropped his glass in the compact sink and breezed past Edgar on his way out of the galley.  As he drew even with Edgar, he added, "I'll make a bet with you. . . that _you_ wear out long before _I_ do."

"We'll see about that!" Edgar called after him.  He watched the gambler saunter away, Setzer's silvery hair swaying as he walked.

Edgar still wasn't quite positive that it had really happened, but he had a pretty good idea that it had.  He finished his breakfast in the galley after all, wondering if and when his mystery visitor would return.  Setzer couldn't release Edgar from any of his obligations. . . but he could make Edgar very happy in the meantime.

_And if I **am** falling for him?  _ Edgar looked down into his glass of milk.  _Then maybe I never will have a "steady girl". . . but I'll be happy while this lasts._

\--

The End


End file.
